It was the Truth
by soar2survive
Summary: Naruto and Sakura confront enemies, friends, each other and their feelings as they battle out adventures of a lifetime while protecting their village,and eachother agaisnt unimaginable odds. NARUxSAKU-- CH 3 CHANGED AND UPDATED- CH 4 OUT
1. Chapter 1

It was the Truth-

It was the Truth-

A Naruto/ Narusaku fan fiction

"people speaking"

'thoughts'

--

Naruto felt a tapping on his shoulder. He whirled around, dreading what he would see. A smirking Kiba and a fist. Stars swirled around his head, as Kiba's fist smashed into his head.

"How'd you get past all my shadow clones, there were like 5?" Naruto grunted, shaking his head in a futile effort to rid the pain. He took a few hasty steps to the right, avoiding a pounce by Akamaru.

"Silly, silly Naruto, I have a dog. Idiot, he could smell you," Kiba replied shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"Shikamaru, where the hell are you? I'm getting the stuffing beaten out me here!" Naruto yelled into the air.

'Grrrrrr, Sakura gave me quite a punch, wasted all my chakra' Naruto thought angrily.

It was a normal day in Konoha. Hot. Everyone bored. The only missions were being given out to ANBU. Apparently, handling the Akatsuki was too hard for the Chuunin kids. Most of their teachers had been sent too. With no Kakashi or Jiraiya, Naruto was yearning for some way to practice his skills. The usual way to get rid of boredom was sparring. Today it was Sakura and Kiba vs. Shikamaru and Naruto. Naruto's team was winning so far. Naruto's strength and shadow clones were almost impossible to beat. But, unfortunately, Sakura had gotten rid of most of the shadow clones very quickly. A couple punches to the ground did the trick. Another punch, to Naruto's head winded him a bit too. Plus, Akamaru had excellent nose. But, Team Sakura was constantly on the move, flitting back from Shikamaru's shadow.

"Naruto, I'm kinda busy here. Troublesome girl is fast and if she punches me I'm done

for," Shikamaru yelled from somewhere near by.

His shadow possession jutsu was swirling around the ground, trying to capture the blur of

pink. Shikamaru was also avoiding the occasional punch aimed at his head. He turned his head casually to the side, dodging a spinning kunai.

"Well, here's an idea. Use your freaking brain!" Naruto screamed back. Shikamaru frowned, annoyed.

'I can't stop and think, while she's throwing things at me, gotta get a hold of her' Shikamaru thought.

The two pairs fighting suddenly found themselves fighting right next to each other.

"Kiba, switch with me. Maybe Akamaru can avoid his jutsu while you get him," Sakura hissed quickly to Kiba.

Kiba nodded. In a blur, Shikamaru found himself against a large, white dog with the smirking ninja behind it. And, Naruto found himself against his teammate.

'Crap, this will be tough. She knows all my strengths and weaknesses' Naruto thought in dismay. Little did he know, Sakura was thinking the same thing.

"Well, Mr. Hokage, let's see what you can do!" Sakura shouted, breaking the silence. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her bravado. She had changed a lot from before his trip. She seemed braver, stronger, more confident. But, he noticed that her green eyes stayed the same. Bright. Alert.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" he shouted, starting off the fight.

Sakura saw them all. POOF! Almost immediately one of them disappeared, a kunai sticking out of its back.

'Dammit, she can tell where they are going to appear, she's really strong' Naruto cursed furiously, but with a hint of strong admiration.

She jumped away, twisting in the air to avoid a shuriken. She faced back to him, a wicked smile on her face. Her fist hit the ground with shaking fury. All of the Narutos stumbled. While they were off balance, she ran forward and punched one in the stomach. The real Naruto ran forward armed with kunais.

He saw an opening and was about to strike when….

"STOP!" a hoarse voice yelled out. Both paused, mid strike and faced the visitor. Kiba and Shikamaru were standing next to him, looking startled. Iruka.

"Naruto, Sakura you two have a mission. Go now, Hokage-sama is not in the best mood," he added, shifting from foot to foot.

"Why? Please spare us one of those D rank doozies," Naruto sighed.

"Naruto! Shut up! We can't offend Tsunade-sama like that! Iruka-sensei, we'll grab Sai and go immediately," Sakura put in quickly.

"First of all, this is a hard mission. A rank. Second, no Sai. This will just be you two, and Kakashi is on a mission. Tsunade-sama told us that just you two were the only ones who could do this. No ANBU, no jounin," Iruka replied in a serious tone.

'Why are we the only ones?' Naruto thought

"Yes sir, we're going now. Sakura, let's go," Naruto finished, as the two of them ran off towards the tall, majestic Hokage's Tower.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the Truth 2-

It was the Truth 2-

A Naruto/NaruSaku fan fiction

"people speaking"

'thoughts'

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN? IRUKA'S BEEN LOOKING FOR HOURS. DON'T KEEP ME WAITING LIKE THAT!" screamed Tsunade.

Naruto could almost visualize foam coming out of her mouth, she screamed so loud. He rolled his eyes, waiting patiently for instructions to arrive.

'Not in a good mood, yeesh, this lady has issues' he thought sarcastically.

"Tsunade-sama, I apologize, it is our fault completely and it will never happen again," Sakura pronounced apologetically.

"Yeah, yeah we apologize, what is our objective?" Naruto queried in a bored tone.

Tsunade looked like she would pop a vessel. But, she took a breath and spoke:

"Your mission is kind of Akatsuki related. A, um, new group has been sighted near by. We're not sure if they are with Akatsuki or not. I want the two of you to go, and um, figure things out, and take care of it," she said pretending to ignore all of the hesitations.

"What do you mean by 'take care of it, do we kill them or capture them or what?'" Naruto asked skeptically. Tsunade looked seriously over at the pair, as if sentencing a death sentence.

"I don't know, that is your choice," she replied vaguely. Naruto raised an eyebrow. But, he shrugged and turned to leave.

"Sakura, a minute?" Tsunade asked. Sakura went over to her master.

"Whatever happens, whatever you decide, control Naruto. They want the Kyuubi, so don't let him get that angry. Protect him. I know you are capable of that. You are capable of a lot, my student. Use your strength and healing, and make me proud," she finished solemnly. Sakura blinked, surprised.

'Why does she sound like we won't return, or that some epic battle will take place?' Sakura thought, confused. But she nodded and exited the room anyway.

The two were packed and ready. They stood, side by side, near the front of the gate. Naruto sighed, wondering what he was getting himself into. Sakura put a hand on his shoulder. He turned and was faced by impenetrable green eyes.

"We'll get through this, I promise," she said softly. He smiled his stupid smile, which she used to hate so much. Now, it seemed to just be a mask for the pain and suffering he had faced his entire life. In fact, all that idiocy, and wise mouthing, was just a cover for the real Naruto. A boy who was hurt and stripped of a family. She'd never admit this to anyone, but his attitude kept her entertained and laughing. She'd seen enough of the Naruto to know that he never broke a promise. Never would he give up or retreat. He would never betray anything close to him. His strength and chakra were enough to send most villains running. What she found most drawing were his eyes. Cerulean with a mischievous twinkle. It seemed to shout, "I won't give up!"

"Dattebayo, we gotta go, Sakura-chan," he muttered nervously, a faint blush on his face, as she kept staring deep into his eyes. She nodded and together they took off into the woods.

Green foliage whizzed past the pair as they sped through the trees that surrounded Konoha. The hours were eaten away. Naruto was staring at the back of Sakura's head, while running. She certainly was the most interesting girl in his age group. In appearance and personality. Her pink, spiky hair seemed to be unique to the whole country. Her sharp, witty personality kept him both laughing and dodging blows. Her power was amazing, strong enough to throw off most jutsus and make even the strongest person stumble. What he found the most drawing were her eyes. Emerald with a sparkle. He had seen them filled to the brim with tears, anger, sadness, jealousy, ferocity.

A large branch that eluded his vision snapped hard against his face. THWACK! He fell back on the floor, cheeks red from a long welt, although some of the red hue was from something different… Sakura stopped, hearing Naruto's fall.

'Are we being ambushed? Think, Sakura, think, if the enemy outnumbers you, you must use the terrain as an advantage. If we head higher in the cover of the trees, we could avoid…' Sakura frantically thought, as she raced towards Naruto.

She helped him up, simultaneously healing his cheek. After the blue light faded from her hand, it was left sitting there on his bare cheek. She blushed slightly as she took her hand down.

"Naruto, who was it, what kind of jutsu did that, how many were there?" she questioned in a hurried tone.

"Oh, it wasn't an enemy, I ran into a branch," he mumbled lamely. She sighed a deep sigh. She raised her hand, intending to punch him hard for his stupidity, when she burst out laughing. Her loud guffaws surprised them both. He joined in, and the two of them sat side-by-side laughing. They decided, as it was nighttime, to rest.

"Tsunade, some lady eh? She seriously needed an anger management tutor today!" Naruto scoffed, as the two of them ate the food they packed. (Naruto packed large packs of ramen, the main bulk of his bag, while Sakura packed small, rice balls filled with different things, small and healthy.)

"No, Naruto, something was wrong. She usually isn't that angry. Something has come up, and it's worrying her. Some sort of danger to the village. That's why all our ANBU are gone, along with our jounin," she finished quietly.

Naruto frowned, thinking hard. To him, Tsunade was angry all the time, but still, something did seem to be stressing her out extra this time.

"Hmmm, maybe you're right. And, did you hear her hesitations when talking about that group we're supposed to find? Also, how weird is that whole 'take care of them, you make the choice?'" he said back to her. An idea suddenly dawned upon him.

"She knows who they are and she knows what situation we'll be facing," he voiced.

Sakura nodded, agreeing. "I wonder why she didn't tell us, and why we get to make that decision?" she asked, more to herself than Naruto.

He shrugged, and lay on the hard ground getting ready to go to sleep. Gathering his courage, he turned to Sakura, who was laying on the ground, staring at the moon, and said, " well, we'll figure this out no matter what. And, erm, I'm, ah, really happy that I'm with you on this mission because, um, well, I know you'll help me handle this properly, so yeah," he finished, wishing he hadn't started.

"Naruto, I'm your teammate, you'll be stuck with me on all of your missions, but I too am glad I'm with you because together we're a great team and undeafeatable," she finished with a big smile on her face. Naruto grinned back, glad the foliage covered his blush.

"Would you like to bet on that, Sakura?" a cold, malicious voice sneered from behind them. The two ninja jumped up, startled and whirled around, looking for the person.

"Ah, it's good to see you both again, Team 7, you've grown so much," the voice finished sardonically, the edge to his voice sharp and cutting. And out of the trees behind them, flanked by three snarling, unfamiliar ninja was

Sasuke Uchiha.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the Truth 3

It was the Truth 3 (slight spoilers)

A Naruto/ NaruSaku fan fiction

"people speaking"

'thoughts'

And out of the trees behind them, flanked by three snarling, unfamiliar ninja was

Sasuke Uchiha.

His long black hair was in the same style all those years ago. His face, usually devoid of emotion, was glaring at the two shinobi with a mixture of emotions in his eyes. Hatred, anger, guilt, happiness, surprised, but most of all, he seemed uncomfortable. The wind blew suddenly, rustling his uniform. Sakura stared at the half open white shirt, the long wide pants, held up by a twisted gray belt. The normal adoration she displayed when seeing him was replaced this time with disappointment.

'He has obviously escaped from Orochimaru, but why isn't he back in Konoha? Who are the people behind him? His new team?' she thought dejectedly.

"Sasuke, you've escaped from Orochimaru, so why…?" Naruto left the sentence hanging. A deep frown furrowed his forehead.

"Why haven't I returned? Why would I return? I could never gain power surrounded by all those fools. My own team was made up of fools. Neither of whom have talent of any sort," he sneered coldly. "Meet Team Hawk. The four of us have talent, and will go to any lengths to gain power," he finished with a smile.

Naruto was thinking about what Tsunade had said to them:

Your mission is kind of Akatsuki related. A, um, new group has been sighted near by. We're not sure if they are with Akatsuki or not. I want the two of you to go, and um, figure things out, and take care of it.

This was what Tsunade had said to them. Suddenly, Naruto understood what Tsunade was saying. She knew about Sasuke and she was leaving the choice to kill him up to Sakura and him. Naruto scowled, remembering his promise. But, he would honor that promise forever.

"Sasuke, I swore to Sakura I would bring you back, and I will. So even if I have to drag your bloody, beaten up body back to Konoha, I will," Naruto stated, surprising everyone.

"A boy, it'll be a boy, hmmm, this blond one looks good," snarled one of the ninja behind Sasuke. His eyes were glazed with a frenzied passion to kill. The other two ninja immediately held him back. But one asked:

"Hey, Sasuke, can we let him go, I want to see what this blondy is made of, anyways, who cares if he's killed?" the ninja asked. He had short hair. A young face with what seemed to be a mischievous smile peered up at Sasuke. The look of uneasiness returned upon Sasuke's face.

"No, hold him back. We didn't come to kill these two, but to give them a warning," he stated.

'Does Sasuke-kun still have feelings for his old team, why is he afraid to harm them?' the other ninja behind Sasuke thought. Karin. She had deep red hair neat on one side, and messy on the other. A sneer curled up one side of her mouth. Both of Sasuke's old teammates looked pathetic. The girl, very pretty with spiked pink hair, didn't look very strong. And the boy, also quite handsome with shaggy blond hair, looked and talked like a fool.

"Kudos to you Sasuke, your brother is dead, your lifetime goal achieved," Sakura finally spoke, her tone quiet, but strong.

It was the wrong thing to say. Several things happened. The two ninja holding the other one both flinched back, as if Sakura had said something offensive. The topic of Itachi was touchy, since Sasuke learned the truth. A look of pain crossed Sasuke's face followed by anger. His hands clenched into hard fists. So hard, the tendons were white against his pale skin.

Karin, still annoyed that Sasuke apparently had feelings for his old team, took advantage of his sudden anger and let go of the ninja they had been restraining. Sasuke stood, watching, glaring at Sakura with such intensity that she could actually feel heat.

The big ninja, Jugo, was galloping towards Naruto, a large smile, radiating insanity, on his face.

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled quickly. About 5 Narutos leaped in front of the real one and tried to punch Jugo. He made a few good punches, which should have knocked Jugo out, but unfortunately, the mad ninja plowed through most of them, using brute force. Along with being strong, he moved fast

The last time Naruto has seen Sasuke, there had been an epic battle. Sasuke's strength was rivaling his. Both had nearly limitless chakra, but Naruto knew he would have to save as much possible for Sasuke. While playing defence and landing a few hits with his clones, he made eye contact with Sakura, who sensing his problem, nodded quickly.

Karin and the other young ninja, Suigetsu, smirked. Both were happy that the blond ninja was going to get killed. Both agreed that taking down the pink haired kunoichi would be easy. Karin couldn't resist a few jabs at her.

"Oi, Pinky, don't worry, Sasuke-kun (she said that word with creepy relish) probably won't let ol' Jugo kill blondy. We all know you'll be helpless without him in anything, so we won't kill him!" she laughed out. Sakura stared calmly back, one eyebrow raised coolly. She turned her gaze back to Naruto. She took a deep breath, and looked for the rapidly approaching Jugo.

Meanwhile, all the Narutos were delaying. The real one ran up, avoided all the mad punches and slammed the heel of his palm into his chin. Juugo's head snapped back. But, all the did was wind and anger him more. Blood gushed from his nose in rivers.

Kakashi-sensei had told them about situations like these. At all the team meetings, they practiced on him, eachother, and other teams. You fight brute force with brute force. Kakashi had further more warned Naruto about Sasuke. Last time, Sasuke could muster about 2 good Chidoris with enough chakra left for hand combat. But, now who knew what Orochimaru had taught him. A full-fledged fight would be Curse seal vs. Kyuubi, both however powerful would need as much chakra as possible. Although Kyuubi helped, it destroyed Naruto's body, just as well. Kakashi had also told Naruto to try and beat Sasuke without Kyuubi with Rasengan's power.

Meanwhile, everyone was twitching with anticipation as Jugo bounded up to Naruto, crazed eyes red with anger and bloodlust. With one hand, he knocked out a couple of the clones. None of the stabs seemed to hurt him bad, he just wiped away the blood. Naruto stood ready, a kunai in hand, waiting. Just before Jugo's body came into contact with Naruto's, a blur of pink attacked him.

Sakura had not been sitting helpless. She had slowly been gathering all her chakra to her one shoulder and waiting for an opening. Seeing Naruto about to get pummeled, she ran up, screaming a battle cry, and rammed her shoulder into the large man's body. For any other human, this should have crushed their shoulder, but Sakura had been training her super human strength with the Hokage for years, so she was not harmed at all. Kakashi sensei had also trained her in speed and timing. Jugo, however went flying in the air. He landed hard on the ground after flying through a tree. His eyes seemed to be different.

"Why did the pink girl hit me and scare off all the birdies," he asked in a small voice, sounding like a 5 year old. Sakura looked surprised at his sudden personality change.

Sakura grinned at Naruto, who returned it, feeling deep admiration for his friend. Naruto faced Sasuke armed. Sakura then looked back at a fuming Karin and replied,

"First of all redhead, don't call me Pinky, the name's Sakura. Second, ever heard of a hairbrush? By the way, I don't get helpless that easy, don't you ever forget it," she finished in a tone so mean and cold, Naruto shivered.

Karin took a step towards Sakura, fists raised, when Sasuke broke in. Sasuke had been watching the entire fight. He looked mildly astonished when Sakura hit Jugo, but he brushed it away.

"Enough, Team Hawk, we don't need to waste our time with these people. Naruto, Sakura take this message back to your Hokage and stupid village. Team Hawk has joined Akatsuki. Oh, and we'll meet again, relatively soon. I'll see the two of you when I crush Konoha to the ground. When every Hokage on that goddamned mountain is in crumbles. When that damn statue of the First Hokage in the Valley of End is crushed. All that will be left is the statue of Uchiha. Soon, Uchiha is all that will be left in the Village Hidden in the Leaf."

(A/N: Not really my favorite chapter, but I made some changes. I know I probably have some of my facts wrong, sorry. The only reason Sakura finishes off Jugo instead of Naruto is because they both know that he'll need chakra (however much of it) to fight Sasuke. They don't know his strength, so yeah. I also wanted to make Sasuke a little bit uncomfortable with killing his teammates. But don't expect any apologies from him :D)


	4. Chapter 4

It was the Truth Chapter 4

It was the Truth Chapter 4

A Naruto/ NaruSaku fan fiction

"people speaking"

'thoughts'

I'll see the two of you when I crush Konoha to the ground. When every Hokage on that goddamned mountain is in crumbles. When that damn statue of the First Hokage in the Valley of End is crushed. All that will be left is the statue of Uchiha.

Soon, Uchiha is all that will be left in the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

- -- -- -- --

"Good bye, Team 7," Sasuke whispered mockingly to them.

Without another word, Sasuke took out a kunai with a paper bomb stuck on it, activated it, and then threw at the ground quite close to the shinobi. With that, Team Hawk took off into the woods.

"Sasuke-kuuuuuuuuuun, why didn't you let us kill them when you just bombed them?" Karin whined as Team Hawk leaped from tree to tree. Sasuke made no sign that he heard her, just kept leaping further and further away.

"God, Karin you are an idiot!" Suigetsu snorted, full of laughter. "The bombs were made for us to escape. He knew they'd survive the bombs and get away. He wouldn't kill them. Especially not Sakura," he added in sneakily, knowing this would make Karin jealous.

"WHAT?! Sasuke-kun doesn't like that pinky, Sakura," she shrieked back.

"They all share a bond," Suigetsu shot back wickedly.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he heard that and he turned around furiously.

"Enough! My feelings for my old team should be of no importance to you. I have cut off every bond made to me in my life. Bonds are an advantage for the enemy, and must be severed," he stated quietly

-- -- --

Time seemed to crawl by when the kunai was flung. Both of them saw it, but refused to break eye contact with Sasuke. Sasuke broke the eye contact and fled. Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm and yanked her back. The two of them ran fast. But the bomb caught them. With a thunderous roar, it exploded. The force threw each one in separate directions blinding them. Wood, leaves, and rocks, hit them hard. Sakura was hurled far to the east flying straight through many trees before hitting the ground. Her hands were protectively covering her face to avoid damage. Naruto managed to avoid the trees, but still hit the ground really hard.

Sakura groaned as she got up. Leaves and twigs were sticking to her. Many shards of wood jutted out from her skin, caked with blood.

'Sasuke, have you really changed this much? Were my feelings really of no use? Was I wasting my time?' Sakura thought sadly, while yanking out each piece of wood and then healing her arm.

She walked a little ways, and then found Naruto. He was a mess. Blood dripped down his face and a long gash on his back had torn up most of his jumpsuit. What was worse was his expression. Furious rage just under the surface. He looked almost feral. She finished healing herself. Knowing she had almost no chakra left, she popped a soldier pill into her mouth and approached Naruto. He held up one hand stopping her.

"Not now, Sakura-chan. We can still follow them from here, I have their scent. We'll drag them back," he finished in a growl.

"No."

"What!" Furious disbelief colored his face.

"Naruto, we have to get this information to the Hokage. The village needs to be prepared."

"No, we leave now,"

"Naruto, they need to know about Sas- his plan,"

"Sakura-chan, please let's go," he said, trying to calm down.

"Naruto, listen, the village has got to be prepared," she replied.

"You see, this your problem. Always thinking of how to prepare yourself. You need to act, not think. If we catch them, then the village won't need to be bloody prepared. Now shut up and let's get the hell out of here!" he finished, his voice almost at a shout, anger at the situation getting a hold of him.

Naruto had never spoken like this to her. She noticed that his eyes seemed redder than usual, and teeth were definitely longer.

"Naruto, we can't just jump rashly into this. The village needs to find out. We need to prepare our ANBU and jounin, now let's go home," her voice pleadingly calm.

"NO! I'm not going to let Sasuke have even a chance at attacking my village. I don't want people to die. Why can't you get that into your head? Okay, how about you go back to the village and I stay?" he shot back.

Oh yes, his teeth were much longer, and his whiskers stood out more on his face.

'Perfect, Naruto's going to get Kyuubified. Shit. Gotta get him to calm down,' Sakura thought anxiously.

"Naruto, we are not abandoning each other and splitting up, now please calm down," she answered soothingly. Naruto wasn't having any of it.

"Sakura, I have to do this, I have to—," he was cut off by Sakura, who decided as the situation was pretty much in flames, to use her trump card. She stepped forward, and put her hand on his deeply indented whiskers. It was warm, hot even, but she kept her cold hand placed there.

"Naruto, if you were Hokage, wouldn't you want to be warned of an attack on your village? Wouldn't you want to get a chance to protect your villagers?" she asked really softly.

His face was clouded with indecision. But, finally, his eyes calmed down and his whiskers dimmed. He breathed deeply, and nodded.

'Stupid idiot. She's right. I can't lose my temper that quickly, I am such a--,' Naruto was thinking, but was suddenly interrupted.

Sakura smiled, took down her hand, and reached up and gently kissed his cheek where the deep whiskers and her hand had previously been. Then she healed his wounds, before the two shinobi headed back to the village to warn their Hokage of a possibly fatal attack on the village.

--

(A/N: Just so ya'll know, I'm not trying to make Naruto look like some kid with anger management issues who yells at his teammate, but he just realized that his friend is going to destroy all that he loves, so I think he'd be pretty angry. DRAMA! But, this was an important argument for them to have. I think they should be able to understand each other more before getting together. Oh, and sorry for SasuSaku implications, I like a jealous Karin, but rest assured, this is a NaruSaku fan fiction. READ AND REVIEW :D)


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